Olympic teams show line combos in first practices

Olympic men’s hockey cranked up with first practices today in Sochi as fans and followers got their first glimpse of what coaches are thinking for the upcoming tournament.

The first thing that strikes me is the balance on the United States’ forward lines, assembled by Pittsburgh coach Dan Bylsma.

USA’s Ryan Suter, Ryan Miller and Patrick Kane

Sharks’ standout Joe Pavelski finds himself in the middle of Maple Leaf scorers James van Riemsdyk and Phil Kessel. Pavelski will certainly be the defensively responsible forward, and the one taking most if not all of the draws on what is otherwise considered a scoring line, possibly USA’s best threat.

The other three looked like this: Zach Parise-David Baches-T.J. Oshie; Dustin Brown-Ryan Kesler-Patrick Kane and Ryan Callahan-Paul Stastny-Max Pacioretty with Derek Stepan and Blake Wheeler as extras. The key would appear to be Kane finding chemistry with Kesler and Brown, otherwise I could see changes there.

Team USA opens with a preliminary round game on Wednesday against Slovakia.

On Team Canada, Sharks forward Patrick Marleau found himself paired with rival Duck teammates Ryan Getzlaf at center and Corey Perry on right wing for Detroit coach Mike Babcock, who preceded Getzlaf and Perry by a few seasons when he coached Anaheim.

While Getzlaf and Perry have obvious comfort and chemistry with each other, it should be easy for Marleau to blend in with his size and speed on the left side. It gives Babcock two options for faceoffs — Marleau strong with a left-handed draw and Getzlaf the same only from the right side.

As Babcock is certainly aware, Marleau can be a valuable penalty-killer where his speed will be even more evident on the larger Olympic sheet of ice.

Other Canadian forward combinations on Day 1 of practice included Chris Kunitz-Sidney Crosby-Jeff Carter; Patrick Sharp-Jonathan Toews-Rick Nash; Jamie Benn-John Tavares-Patrice Bergerson with Matt Duchesne and Marty St. Louis as extras.

On defense, San Jose’s Marc-Edouard Vlasic was paired with Los Angeles’ Drew Doughty (what is it with keeping all the California skaters together?!?!). Seriously, that’s a strong combo on paper. Both are exceptional defenders, can log big minutes if need be, both display tremendous endurance and can play in all situations, but excel mostly defending.

The rest of the Canadian blue line looked like this: Duncan Keith-Shea Weber; Jay Bouwmeester-Alex Pietrangelo and Dan Hamhuis-PK Subban.

According to reports, Babcock would not divulge his plans for who starts in goal. Canada’s three goalies include Montreal’s Carey Price, Vancouver’s Roberto Luongo and Phoenix’s Mike Smith.

Canada opens on Wednesday against Norway.

San Jose’s fourth and final Olympian, goalie Antti Niemi, is in the mix with Boston’s Tuukka Rask and Dallas’ Kari Lehtonen to start for the Finns. It’s assumed Rask will get the starting nod. Niemi is rooming with Lehtonen at Sochi, and complimented the surroundings including his hotel.